ELYRIA — Today, Lorain County Jail inmate Vincent Jackson Jr. has spent 2,040 days behind bars.
As of the latest inmate cost report filed Wednesday, taxpayers have spent $188,452.16 for Jackson, who faces murder charges, to be incarcerated while he awaits trial. He was booked into jail June 20, 2008.
It is expected Jackson will go to trial Feb. 10.
Jackson, 33, is accused of shooting to death Qiana Walton, 27, a Gas USA clerk, in Elyria in June 2008. Elyria police said Jackson shot Walton with an AK-47 assault rifle and stole $12,000 from the 824 Middle Ave. gas station.
Following a tip, police tracked Jackson to an attic of a house at 1020 West Ave., where police said he held two children hostage before surrendering four hours later.
Jackson pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder, murder, aggravated robbery, felonious assault, tampering with evidence and having weapons while under disability. He could face the death penalty, according to court records.
Capt. Jack Hammond, director of the corrections division at the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office, said Jackson is the most costly inmate the Lorain County Jail has seen.
“He’s pretty expensive,” he said. “Thank goodness they’re not all like that.”
Jackson has spent about the same amount of time in jail so far as Ronald McCloud, who was found guilty of the June 2005 murder and rape of Janet Barnard, Hammond said. Barnard’s body was found in the bathroom of Living Water Christian Fellowship Church by the church’s pastor.
Lorain County Common Pleas Court Judge James Burge did not believe the crime warranted the death penalty. Lorain County Common Pleas Court Judge Raymond Ewers and former Judge Edward Zaleski, who sat on the three-judge panel with Burge, were in favor of imposing death. McCloud is spending life in prison without a chance for parole.
Hammond said having Jackson in the County Jail for so long has been hard.
“It poses challenges,” he said. “It does affect us as it does with any facility.”
But why it has taken Jackson so long to get to trial is beyond anyone’s control.
Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Miraldi, who is hearing Jackson’s case, admits it has gone longer than anticipated.
“This case has troubled me because of the length of time it has taken and I can’t blame anyone for that,” he said. “When it’s a capital case, the state and the federal government impose so many procedural hurdles that can’t take chances.”
Miraldi said with any capital case it will take longer, but the reason for Jackson’s case taking so long is the complications along the way.
“This one has been difficult because there was, after some time, a break in the relationship between the defendant and the senior attorney,” he said. “Every delay has been necessary; we had to appoint new counsel which started it all over.”
Lorain County Prosecutor Dennis Will added in a separate interview another bump in the road was trying to obtain all of Jackson’s records from Chicago, where he is from.
One of Jackson’s attorneys, Anthony J. Rich, said obtaining his records from Illinois “was pulling teeth.”
“To complicate matters further, the defendant had a stroke (in July 2012), then we had competency issues and rehabilitation,” Miraldi said. “I’m just explaining that there are many things that can happen.”
Will said there are mandatory things that have to take place in certain cases such as Jackson’s.
“There are about 50 to 100 motions that are specific to a capital murder case,” he said. “It has taken a long time. I think this is the longest case I’ve seen.”
This case is one of those to see if the death penalty is worth it, Miraldi said.
“Is the public getting the right value for its money?” he asked. “There were certainly more bumps in the road than one would imagine.”
The second longest County Jail resident, Brady Phillips, is the second most expensive inmate at the Lorain County Jail. He has spent 1,491 days and has cost taxpayers $137,636.72 since he was booked Dec. 21, 2009.
Phillips, 42, of Elyria, is accused of killing one man in a botched home invasion Dec. 20, 2009, at a 115 David Drive apartment that left two men dead and one injured.
Phillips pleaded innocent to two counts each of murder, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary, six counts of felonious assault and single counts of tampering with evidence and having weapons under disability. He was served a supplemental indictment on two additional counts of murder and six counts of felonious assault with firearm specifications May 20, 2010.
Phillips, along with Herminio Serrano, 38, of Lorain, is accused of barging into David McDonough’s and Michael Stump’s apartment on David Drive with the intention of robbing the residents.
McDonough called 911 and told dispatchers two men carrying guns broke into his apartment. He fought with the men and tried to grab the guns from them, but was shot in the stomach during the struggle, according to the 911 call.
McDonough’s roommate, Michael Stump, was shot in the head sometime during the fight, the 911 tape stated. He died at Cleveland MetroHealth Medical Center.
The other intruder, Serrano, was found dead inside the apartment after McDonough shot him during the struggle in what appeared to be self-defense. Serrano was shot multiple times, but died from a gunshot wound to the shoulder.
Phillips fled the scene after Stump and Serrano were killed and McDonough suffered a gunshot wound to the chest, police said. Phillips was eventually arrested at his home on Second Street in Elyria. He is facing two potential life sentences without parole, according to earlier court documents.
Lorain County Common Pleas Court Judge Mark Betleski said the Phillips case, like the Jackson case, also has had its own share of snags.
Phillips worked with police on two separate investigations because he had information in connection to them.
There was going to be a potential plea deal to reduce his sentence. Because he was helping out, he hoped to drop his sentence down to 14 years, but there were later discussions of taking it down to six years, Betleski said.
The state then said that Phillips didn’t do what he promised in one of the investigations, so the sentence reverted back to 14 years. Betleski said Phillips didn’t like that and wanted his attorney fired.
“Every case is different and different issues come up,” he said. “If anyone thinks the reductions of all of our budgets have not been affected, just look at (Lorain County Sheriff Phil) Stammitti’s jail list.”
Phillips is set for trial April 1 and Betleski anticipates it will go forward.

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About the Author

Kaylee is the Avon-Avon Lake reporter, but you can catch her covering different stories across the county. She is a Kent State University alumna who enjoys family, friends and everything Cleveland. Reach the author at kremington@morningjournal.com
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